EAST LANSING - Michigan State senior Travis Walton believes that he has the goods to be the defensive MVP in the Big Ten conference.

And most of the opposing guards that have faced Walton this year would probably agree with the senior captain.

It was Walton, afterall, that shut down high scoring Texas star A.J. Abram during non-conference play. And Walton had a large hand in doing the same thing when matched up on prolific Illinois scorer Demetri McCamey.

During the days leading up to Michigan State's showdown with No. 19 ranked Minnesota at the Breslin Center on Wednesday, Walton was not patting himself on the back for past accomplishments. Quite the opposite. Walton spent a lot of time thinking about the high percentage that Penn State shot against his Spartans as well as the 29 points that Nittany Lion point guard Talor Battle scored against him in an upset win at the Breslin Center last Sunday.

Walton used his lackluster peformance on defense against Penn State to motivate himself for Minnesota. Locked in on defense and hungry for a chance at redemption, the Spartan senior turned in a defensive gem for his team. He forced turnovers, he chased down loose balls, and did a lot of the dirty work that led to a 29-point blowout of a Top 20 Minnesota ballclub.